Thread-twisting device for knitting and other machines



March 10, 1931. M. SCHOENFELD 3 THREAD TWISTING DEVICE FOR KNITTlNG ANDOTHER MACHINES Filed Nov. 5, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INEENTOR; GZZL MATTORNEY March 10, 1931. SCHOENFELD 1,195,683

THREAD TWISTING DEVICE FOR KNITTING AND OTHER MACHINES Filed Nov. 5,1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 4 JHE F JH 0' ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 10, 1931UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IMIORRIS: SGHOENFELILOF ZURICH, SWITZERLANDi Application filed November 5, 1925, Serial No. 67,066, and in GermanyMarch 25, 1925.

The'present invention is adapted to be applied to hosiery knittingmachines, braiding machines, and other machines which operate withneedles and with continuous threads which are taken from spools orbobbins. The principal object is to provide a device for partially orwholly twisting the threads which are fed to the needles of the machine,so that the twistin operation may be performed while the need es areperforming their-function of forming the fabric or stitchin it, orwhatever operation is accomplished by the action of the needles. In thecase of aknitting machine, to which the invention has been applied inthe drawings, the threads are taken from a series of spools and are fedto the knitting needles, but the threads undergo a twisting operationbetween the spools and the needles. The threads on the spools may besupplied entirely untwisted or they may be partially twisted, in whichlatter case the completion of the twisting will be accomplished with thepresent device.

So far as I am aware the twisting or form'- ing of the threads hasalways been an independent process from that of constructing the threadsinto fabric. In. the present case,

however, the twisting of the threads and their utilization in theconstruction of a fab ric, or the stitching of a fabric, is accomplishedsimultaneously and. continuously, so that there is no intermediatehandling reuired between the making of the thread and t e formation ofthe fabric. The twisting operation takes place between the spools orbobbins which car the threads and the needles, and prefera 1y this isaccomplished b revolving the spools or bobbins by suitable drivingmechanism while the threads are being taken from the spools or bobbins,and fed through the needles. The spools or bobbins may be applieddirectly to the knitting or other form of machine, or they may bearranged independently thereof, and they may be arranged above or belowor at the side of the knitting or other machine. Furthermore, the spoolsor bobbins may be arran ed singly or in groups.

T e spools or bobbins which carry the un- In the drawings forming partof this applica-tion,

Figure 1 is a view showing, in elevation, the parts of a circularhosiery knitting machine to'which my invention in one form has beenapplied,

Fi re 2 is a detail view of\the spool or bobbm and its pulley,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a sectional view showin the clutch through which theoperation 0 the spools or bobbins is controlled,

Figure 5 is an elevation of the same,

Figure 6 is a detail view of the stop mechanism controlling the twistingdevice,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the knitting machine,showing the usual stop motion device, and

Figure 8 is a detail view of the stop mo tion device for-the knittingmachine proper.

When artificial silk is formed, the individual fibers are usuallycontinuous or of very great length, resulting, naturally, from themannerin which the bres are formed; and when the fibres are twistedtogether they form a substantial thread even though there are fewertwists per yard than with other fibres. For this reason the spools orbobbins of the present device may be operated at sufiicient speed toperform the twisting operationin the formation of the threads anddeliver the threads continuously to the knitting needles as fast asthese are required in the construction of the knitted fabric. I

In the drawings I have shown only such parts of the complete knittingmachine as is necessary to show the application of my invention, and themachine is of the multiple feed type wherein there are as many threadsfed simultaneously at different points as there are needles, althoughthe invention is not limited to this application. In the drawings I haveshown a portion of the basket 1, of an ordinary circular knittingmachine and this revolves with the vertical shaft 2. The latter isoperated from any source of power by means of the belt 3 arranged topass around a pulley 4 on the shaft From this shaft the power is appliedthrough a pair of mitre gears (not shown) in the usual manner, to thevertical shaft 6. There is a sleeve 7 sliding vertically on the shaft 6and on its lower end it carries a toothed clutch member 8 which isadapted to be engaged with and released from a pin 9 secured to theshaft 2 which is in axial alignment with the shaft 6. Vhen this clutch 8is engaged with the pin 9 the lower vertical shaft 2 will be revolvedand therefore the knitting mechanism will be operated in accordance withwell known practice; whereas, when the sleeve 7 is raised the clutch 8is disengaged from the pin 9 and the driving force is cut off from thelower shaft 2 so that the knitting mechanism remains idle. There is anannular ring 10 through which the stop operating mechanism of theknitting machine proper is operated. This ring has an inclined plate 11secured to it which is adapted to act upon the bent rod 12 for thepurpose of lifting the same, and this rod acts through a shaft 13 and aconnecting arm 14 to lift the sleeve 7 for the purpose of disengagingtheelutch 8 from the pin 9. The movement of the ring 10 also produces aslight turning movement of the bent rod 12 and this action causes thearm 15 on the upper end of this bent rod to swing the pawl 16 so thatits opposite end engages with the teeth of a ratchet 17 which is securedto the sleeve 7 and this causes braking action to be applied for thepurpose of quickly stopping the knitting mechanism as the driving forceis thrown out of action. These are all well known parts of a standardknitting machine.

The movement of the ring 11 to effect the stopping of the machine isusually controlled by the action of the knitting threads and in Figure 8I have shown the parts usually employed for this purpose. Each knittingthread passes through a thread guide 18 and through a second threadguide 19 and between these two points it travels between a pair of feedrollers 20, 21 which control the feed of the thread to the needle. Afterpassing through the bight of these rollers the thread also passesthrough a hook 22 on the end of a spring arm 28. When the thread isunbroken or taut the spring arm 23 is held in the position shown inFigure 8 and as this arm passes around the pivot 24 and the lever 25 andengages a projection 26 on one arm of this lever, it holds another arm27 of this lever out of the path of a toothed member 28 which isrevolved by means of the gears 29 and 3d. the former being mounted onthe shaft of the feed roller 21 and the latter on the shaft whichcarries the toothed member 28. The lever 25 is pivoted at 30 to the ring10. The pin 31 on one arm of this lever is acted upon by a lever arm 32for restoring the parts to the inoperative or disengaged position. lVhenthe thread between the feed rollers 20. 21 and the guide 19 is brokenthe spring arm 23 swings downwardly and this allows the arm 27 to swinginto the path of the toothed member 28 and the latter then acts againstthis arm to move the lever 25 to the right in Figure 8 and this impartsa turning movement to the ring 10 for the purpose of operating the stopmechanism above described.

There. is a stationary supporting ring 33 shown mounted above theknitting mechanism, in the present illustration, and there are a numberof arbors 34 bolted to this, supported and arranged incircular formcorreresponding with the form of the knitting mechanism. Upon each arbor34 there is a sleeve 35 adapted to freely rotate, and each sleeve has apulley 36 fastened thereto, or formed as part of the sleeve and abovethe same. The sleeve carries a spool or bobbin 37. There is an arbor andpulley for each spool or bobbin.

There are guide pulleys 38, arranged on the support 33 just outside ofthe circle of arbors and around the vertical shaft 6. Adjacent thesepulleys 38 there is a driving pulley 39. There is an endless belt 40which engages around the driving pulley 39 and around the idler ortension pulleys 38 and the belt engages around the circle of pulleys 36which drive the individual spools or bobbins.

The shaft 41 is journaled at its lower end in a bracket 42 dependingfrom the upper framework of the machine, and this bearing is formed in acone shaped plate 43 stationarily secured in the bracket 42 by means ofthe bolt 44. The upper surface of this plate 43 has a frustro conicalsurface 45 which is received in a frustro conical opening 46 in thelower side of the drive pulley 39. This drive pulley is formed as partof a sleeve 47 which is adapted to have a slight vertical movement onthe shaft 41 but it is feathered thereto so that the shaft and sleeverevolve together. The upper end of the sleeve 47 is provided with afrustro conical recess 48 to engage with the frustro conical surface 49of a clutch member 50 which is fixed to the. shaft 41. lVhcn the sleeveis in raised position the surface 48 engages with the surface 49 so thatthe sleeve is revolved with the member 50 and the shaft 41, these partsacting as a clutch through which the revolving motion for the spools istransmitted from the shaft 41. When the sleeve 47 is in its lowerposition the surface 46 clutches against the surface 45 and as themember 43 is stationary this serves as a brake to prevent furtherturning of the sleeve 17 of which the drive pulley 39 is a part, so thatwhen this action takes place the revolving motion of the spools isquickly arrested.

There is a lever 51 pivoted at 52 to an ar 53 on the bracket 42 and thishas a portion which straddles the neck of the sleeve 47 and it haselongated openings 54 through which project pins 55 on the sleeve. Theswinging action of this lever 51 causes the sleeve 17 to be eitherraised into locking engagement with the member 50 or lowered intoengagement with the brake member 43. There is a rod 56 pivoted at oneend to the free end of the lever 51 and its other end is pivoted to alever 57 rocking on the point 58 from the upper framework of themachine. There is another rod 59 pivoted at one end to the second arm ofthe lever 57 and the other end of this rod is pivoted to a bell cranklever 60 which latter rocks upon the pivot 61. There is a horizontallyextending rod 62 pivoted at one end to the second arm of this bell cranklever 60 and this rod projects outwardly and is provided with a loop 63by of which the rod may be operated by hand. One arm of the bell cranklever is drawn in one direction by a spring 6st fastened at one end tothe lever and at the other end to a fixed point. Upon the rod 62 thereis secured a block 65 which is adapted to be engaged by a hook 66forming part of a lever which is pivoted at the point 67. The other armof this lever 1s provided with a pin 68 which engages in an elongatedaperture 69, in the lower end of a light rod 70 which is adapted to beacted upon by the thread 71 at a point between the spools and theknitting needles. This member 70 is provided with a hook or loop 72through which the thread passes. This member also has a finger or pawl73 which is adapted to engage with the teeth of a member 74 which isoperated continuously, similar to the toothed member 28 shown in Figure8. The parts shown in Figure 6 below the lever 57 are duplicated as manytimes as there are spools in the machine, so that there will be a stopdevice for each individual thread.

The vertical shaft 6 from which the spools receive their driving force,may be independently operated or, as shown in the drawings, it may beoperated from a pulley 7 5 arranged on the shaft 5 from which theknitting mechanism is driven. A belt 76 travelling around this pulleyalso travels around a pulley 77 arranged on a short horizontal shaft 78above the vertical shaft 41. By means of a pair of mitre gears thedriving action is transmitted from the shaft 78 to the vertical shaft41. It will be understood that the ratio of the pulleys 7 5 and 77 willdepend upon the number of twists per yard, which is to be imparted tothe several threads, and this factor may be varied according to therequirements.

Assuming the mechanism to be in operative condition, the vertical shaft6 will be driven by the power supplied from the belt 3 and transmittedfrom the shaft 5 to the vertical shaft 6 and this will be effectivethrough the clutch 8 and pin 9 to revolve the shaft 6 which latteroperates the ordinary knitting mechanism. The power transmitted throughthe belt 77 to the shaft 78 is transmitted to the vertical shaft 41 sothat the revolving of the pulley 39 serves to drive all of the spoolsthrough the operation of the belt 40, it being understood thatthe'spoolsremain in fixed positions and that they simply revolve ontheir own axes. This revolving motion of the several spools twists thethreads which are delivered from the spools to the knitting needles. Thethread supplied by these spools may be straight strands, entirelyuntwisted, or they may be partially twisted, so that the threads receivetheir final twisting from the present device. As long asthe machinecontinues to operate, the threads will be given a definite number oftwists per yard automatically, the same time that they feed to theknitting needles, so that the twisting and knittingoperations areperformed continuously, and without any intermediate handling of thethreads. If a thread should become broken near the point of knitting orbetween the feed rollers 20, 21 and the guide 19 the spring member 23 ofthe particular thread which is broken will drop down and allow the arm27 to swing into the pathof the toothed member 28 and the latter willthen act on this arm to thrust the lever 25 to the right in Figure 8 andthis will turn the ring 10 sufficiently to both lift and partially turnthe curved arm 12 for the purpose of lifting the sleeve 7, disengagingthe clutch 8 from the pin 9 and disconnect the operating force from theshaft 6, and also to throw the pawl 16 into engagement with the ratchet17 and arrest the rotation of the knitting mechanism. As long as thethreads between the spools and the above described testing device areunbroken the several rods 70 will be held in their raised positions bythe individual threads ISO which pass under the hooks 72. When one ofthe threads leading from any one of the spools breaks, the rod or feeler70 will drop sufficiently to bring the pawl 73 into the path of theteeth of the revolving member 74 and in this action the feeler 70 is notrequired to move the lever 66 owing to the lost motion permitted by theslot 69. After the pawl 73 rod 62 and the bell crank lever 60, and themovement is imparted through the rod 59, the lever 57, and the rod 56 tothe rocking lever 51 which moves the sleeve 47 downwardlyto disengagethe clutch 48, 49 and to engage the driving pulley 39 and the brakingdisc 43. When this action takes place, the

driving force from the shaft 41 ceases to operate the sleeve 47 and thebrake disc 43 acts on the drive pulley 39 to arrest the same and to stopthe revolving motion of the several spools, in order that the twistingoperation may be arrested on all of the threads when any one of thembecomes broken. It will be understood that the break in the thread whichcauses the stopping of the spools, will also cause, eithersimultaneously or immediately thereafter, the stopping of the knittingaction of the machine. As there is a stop device for each individualthread feeding from the several spools it will be apparent that the stopmotion will be effective when any one of the several threads is broken.When the broken thread has been repaired the rod 19 which is actuated bythe broken thread, will be restored by the operator grasping the loop 63and pulling the rod 62 forward until the hook 66' engages the block 65.This action also serves to lift the sleeve 47 so that the pulley 39disengages from the brake disc 43 and the cone surface 48 reengages withthe driving clutch 50 so that the machine continues in operation asbefore. As there is a detecting device for each of the threads whichleave the spools, the twisting device will be automatically stopped whenany of the individual threads break.

From the above it will be apparent that the threads are automaticallytwisted as they are fed to the needles, so that the thread is partiallyor wholly formed at the same time that they are employed in constructingthe fabric, thereby eliminating all the intermediate handling of thethreads, and the cost incident thereto.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination in an organized machine having needles of spools orbobbins containing thread-forming continuous length fibrous textilestrands which require twisting by the respective spools or bobbins toprovide unitary threads in a finished state for use by the needles, thethreads being twisted to complete state by the respective bobbins anddelivered thereby directly to the needles, whereby there is nointermediate handling of the threads between completion by the spools orbobbins and delivery to the needles, a fixed support for the spools orbobbins and means to rotate each of the bobbins or spools at twistingspeed.

2. An organized machine as in claim 1 in which the fibres on the bobbinsare in an untwisted state.

